In Georgia Tech’s ACC opener, forward James Banks answered his coach’s challenge. Playing a deft post game on offense and challenging shots at the other, Banks led the Yellow Jackets to a 92-79 win over Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
Banks scored 20 points, two shy of his career high, on 9-for-11 shooting as the Jackets shot 55.8 percent from the field against the Demon Deacons. It was the third consecutive game in which the Jackets reached 55 percent shooting, but more significantly, it was the highest field-goal percentage attained by Tech (9-5, 1-0 ACC) in a league game since the 2014-15 season. An announced crowd of 6,397, invigorated by the halftime introduction of football coach Geoff Collins, gave the Jackets a home-court edge.
“I’m glad were able to get a win for ’em and give ’em a show,” Banks said. “Hopefully they’ll come back, bring their friends and we can really sell this place out.”
Banks’ performance followed a bit of a clunker in the Jackets’ win over South Carolina-Upstate on Wednesday, when the transfer from Texas scored four points with five rebounds and was, in the words of coach Josh Pastner, “just kind of out of it.” Pastner said he informed Banks that he needed to consistently be the version of himself that had strung together double-doubles in four of five games earlier in the season and outplayed Arkansas’s future lottery-pick candidate, Daniel Gafford.
Against the Demon Deacons, Banks was closer to that form. He ran the floor, challenged shots, helped run the offense through the high post and avoided fouling. Besides his 20 points, he pitched in four rebounds, three blocks and two assists. In a game where Wake Forest was trying to make the Jackets and their errant 3-point shooting beat them from the perimeter, Banks and his post-feeding teammates (six of his nine baskets were assisted) were difference makers.
“I made some tough shots, but a lot of them were me using my athleticism and them giving me great passes and great looks with the ball,” Banks said. “I attribute that to coaching and teammates.”
“His activity, his affecting of shots, his second and third effort, his running the floor, which opens different things, he made some good passes, he was really good at scoring around the block – did a very, very nice job – and he was really, really good (Saturday),” Pastner said. “That’s the James Banks he’s got to continue to be.”
The Jackets have played the past three games with shot-making that almost boggles the mind, given their history in Pastner’s tenure. The Jackets have exceeded 60 percent in effective field-goal percentage, which proportionately weights 3-point baskets, in wins over Kennesaw State, South Carolina-Upstate and now Wake Forest. In Pastner’s first 80 games, Tech reached 60 percent only three times, and one of them was against a Division II team.
It is probably worth pointing out that Kennesaw State and South Carolina-Upstate are a combined 8-24, and Wake Forest (7-6, 0-1) is likely the least formidable ACC opponent that the Jackets will face in their 18-game league schedule. Still, it was less than three weeks ago that Tech lost at home to Gardner-Webb (which, perhaps not surprisingly, later beat Wake Forest) in a game in which its effective field-goal percentage was 49 percent.
That said, the way that Tech played on offense – aided by transition opportunities fueled by the Demon Deacons’ many missed shots and their 13 turnovers – may have been better than it’s played all season. The 92 points were the most scored by Tech in an ACC regular-season regulation (non-overtime) game since 2005.
“I think since Christmas break, we’ve been better at shot selection,” Pastner said. “We’re still not 100 percent, but we’re getting better and understanding and letting things develop and not panicking late (in the shot clock).”
They may have been at their most effective late in the first half. Ahead 30-25, the 6-foot-9 Banks (aided by his 7-5 wingspan) blocked a jump shot by 7-0 center Olivier Sarr and then, when Wake Forest recovered the ball, rejected guard Isaiah Mucius. Tech gained possession and point guard Jose Alvarado pushed the up the floor, finding forward Moses Wright filling the lane. Wright passed up his shot and hit guard Michael Devoe in the corner, where he buried a 3-point shot for an eight-point lead.
Alvarado finished with 13 points, seven assists and no turnovers. Devoe notched his fourth double-digit scoring game in the past five with 16 points (3-for-4 from 3-point range). The Jackets also closed out the game making 14 of 16 free throws in the final 1:20 to withstand a 3-point barrage by Wake Forest’s Brandon Childress (son of Demon Deacons great and assistant coach Randolph Childress), who finished with a career-high 28 points (7-for-10 from 3-point range).
Tech’s next game will be much more of a challenge – No. 10 Virginia Tech at home Wednesday.
“We’ll have to play a tremendous game, obviously, to have any opportunity,” Pastner said. “But we’ll be ready.”
About the Author
